Statement from the DNC Climate Council Chair on the Failure of the DNC to Advance the Rights of Nature in its 2020 Platform

The following statement is from Michelle Deatrick, Founder and Chair of the DNC Environment and Climate Crisis Council: 

“The DNC Climate Council was established to push the Democratic Party to take bold and urgent action to address the climate crisis and other environmental issues. Key to achieving this mission is protecting our nation’s biodiversity, lands and waters. Unfortunately, our current government safeguards are falling far short, and bolder action is urgently needed.

To advance this objective, the DNC Climate Council called on the Democratic Party to support, in its 2020 Party Platform, establishment of a commission to explore incorporating Rights of Nature principles into U.S. law. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party failed to include any language regarding the rights of nature at all in its 2020 Platform -- an omission that we find deeply disappointing. 

We need policies that honor and protect our Earth, on which we all depend. And our work won’t be done until bold, transformative climate and environmental policy is enacted.”

Background:

The first-ever Environment and Climate Crisis Council, a permanent entity of the DNC, was established to push the Democratic Party to take bold and urgent action addressing the climate crisis and other environmental issues. The Council is a separate entity with its own board, officers and bylaws.

In its policy agenda, the DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis calls to “Establish a commission, similar to the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, to explore incorporating Rights of Nature principles into U.S. law.” Our recommendation for a Commission builds on the recognition in the 2016 Democratic Party Platform that “nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain, and regenerate its vital cycles.” 

The Council’s policy agenda further states that:

• "The U.S. must uphold its treaty obligations to tribal nations and ensure access to sacred lands. Tribal nations must have free, prior, and informed consent to the use of their lands and waters, and the rights of Indigenous peoples must be upheld through climate and environmental policies, including those outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Indigenous Principles of Just Transition."

• The policy framework for the Commission--and at all levels of government--must “incorporate, not marginalize, considerations of climate, environment, equity, health, and workers’ rights. The rights of future generations and the long-term livability of the planet must be prioritized. Frontline and vulnerable communities, disproportionately impacted by environment and climate crises, must be integrally involved in policy design and implementation.”

The DNC Climate Council’s policy agenda was developed by our diverse and inclusive leadership and Policy Committee, which includes Indigenous members. The policies were informed by a national listening tour where we heard from people in over a dozen cities across the country about the issues they’re facing in their communities.

The Council strongly upholds the principle that all governmental entities, including the proposed Commission on Rights of Nature, must be inclusive, diverse, integrally involving Indigenous, Black, brown people and frontline and vulnerable communities which are not only disproportionately impacted by environmental and climate crises, but have long led on these issues.